With two years of operation, Pix, a means of instant money transfer, has established itself as the most used means of payment by Brazilians, reported the Brazilian Federation of Banks (Febraban). 
From November 16, 2020, the date it started operating in the country, until the last September 30, there were 26 billion operations carried out in the national financial system, with transacted values reaching R$ 12.9 trillion.
Survey made by Febraban based on Central Bank numbers shows that, in the first month of operation, Pix exceeded transactions made with DOC (credit document). In January 2021, it surpassed transactions with TED (electronic transfer available). In March of the same year, it took the lead in the number of transactions made with bank slips. In the following month (May), Pix surpassed the sum of all of them.
As for cards, Pix surpassed debit transactions in January this year and, in February, surpassed credit card transactions, when it became the most used means of payment in Brazil.
According to Febraban president Isaac Sidney, transactions made with Pix continue to rise and show the great popular acceptance of the new means of payment, which brought convenience and facilities to customers in their everyday financial transactions. “In the last 12 months, we recorded a 94% increase in operations using the tool.”
When analyzing the transacted values, the survey shows that, in the last month of September, Pix reached BRL 1.02 trillion, with an average ticket of BRL 444, while TED, which added BRL 3.4 trillion, had average ticket of BRL 40.6 thousand.
“The numbers show that the population is using Pix as a lower-value means of payment, for example, in transactions with self-employed professionals, and also for day-to-day purchases, which would be made with bills, as was predicted at the time of the launch of the tool”, said the executive director of Innovation, Products and Banking Services at Febraban, Leandro Vilain.
According to Vilain, this causes the number of transactions to increase at an accelerated pace, bringing greater convenience to customers, who no longer need to carry bills for small transactions.
Still according to the survey, September statistics show that almost half of Pix users are in the Southeast Region (43%), followed by the Northeast (26%), South (12%), North (10%) and Midwest (9 %). As for users, 64% are between 20 and 39 years old.
Since Pix was launched, 523.2 million keys have been registered in the Central Bank’s Directory of Transactional Account Identifiers. Random keys add up to 213.9 million, followed by keys by CPF (114.2 million), cell phone (108.3 million), e-mail (77.5 million). By October, 141.4 million Brazilians had already used Pix in their payments.
Safety
Febraban and associated banks invest around BRL 3 billion per year in cybersecurity to improve and make user financial transactions safer.
The federation participates in the Pix Forum, promoted by the Central Bank, and contributes with suggestions to further improve the security of this means of payment. The entity says that it monitors all market regulations and that, in case of changes, it will endeavor to implement them within the period established by the regulatory body.
Pix is a secure tool and all transactions take place through digitally signed messages that travel in encrypted form, on a protected network. Associated banks also rely on the latest in terms of cybersecurity and fraud prevention, such as encrypted messaging, biometric authentication, tokenization, and use technologies such as big data?? analytics and artificial intelligence in risk prevention processes. According to Febraban, such processes are continuously improved, considering technological advances and changes in the risk environment.
